Don Charlton, founder and CEO of The Resumator offered inspiring remarks about the impact of this weekend for the nonprofits in the region. Coders are spending the weekend creating apps that solve reall challenges faced by local nonprofits - challenges that technology can address but that they don't always have the ih-house abilities to create.

Something that sets the Steel City Codefest apart is its civic focus. The 12 challenges presented to teams are all real-life needs faced by local nonprofits. Participants selected the challenges they found most compelling and the ones for which they could make a difference. Half-way through the weekend on Saturday night, representatives from all the organizations came and met with the participants. They gave feedback on the apps and answered coders' questions. These exchanges enable maximum impact of the final products.

In addition to connecting the community of nonprofits and of hackers, Codefest brought together other community partners interested in this space. Students who are part of The Maker's Place have learned how to code and develop apps through after-school programming. They joined Codefest to learn from teams and provide insight into the apps' development.

Another part of the Codefest community are the Code for America fellows. Pittsburgh is one of only a handful of cities to recieve a team of talented hackers and designers who will spend the year working on improving the city with their skills.

Two things were particularly striking about all the Codefest teams. One, their incredible skills and ingenuity that they brought to the challenges of local nonprofits. And second, their drive. The participants, some professionals and some students dedicated their entire weekend to hacking for good.

While only six teams made it to the finals, all of the Codefest teams developed working apps that address the needs of local nonprofits in the community. Codefest team members met with all participants and recorded their efforts. Check back soon to see the videos of all of this great work!

As amazing as the lightening-fast app development is, there's actually even more to Codefest. This year featured special programming held in conjuction with the Carneige Library for young people. Codefest Junior brought problem solving and application development to coders of all ages.

Another important aspect of Codefest was the civic tech fair. Dozens of local organizations came together to share how they're using technology to make Pittsburgh a better place. Their demonstrations - plus the donuts - made for an inspiring show.

There were so many great apps created this weekend it was nearly impossible to pick a winner! This difficult task fell to our talented team of judges who represented a high level of skills and wide range of experiences. Shout-out to The Forbes Funds' own Kate Dewey who served as a judge looking for social impact!